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ISLAMABAD, May 21: The Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) has refused to revise the salaries of teachers promoted under the time scale formula (TSF), saying without creation of new posts the benefits cannot be given to the educators.

It may be noted that in March 2012, over 1,000 school and college teachers were promoted to higher grades under the TSF.
Some of the teachers were issued the revised pay slips by the AGPR in accordance with their new grades.

However, there were minor objections under discussion by the officials concerned in the AGPR.

When the cases of about 600 schoolteachers also arrived at the AGPR, the latter refused to issue their increased salaries. At present, about 700 teachers are waiting for their increased salaries and other benefits.

A teacher requesting not to be named said the AGPR had asked for some clarifications regarding “creation of posts and budget allocation” and sent a letter to the finance division and the FDE in this regard.

“This is not unusual in our system of governance that the pace of responding such letters by different departments is generally very slow and even after passage of around one month the FDE and the finance division have not replied back,” he said.

The teacher said the AGPR had stopped accepting and entertaining the cases of time scale promotions and all those promoted were not being issued the revised salaries. Majority of female teachers have been suffering because their cases could not be processed on time, he said.

One of the officials in the GA-VIII section of the AGPR also told some of the teachers that they were considering recovering the extra payments made to the teachers who were promoted under the basis of TSF.

Samina Riaz, an associate professor at the Islamabad Model Postgraduate College for Girls, G-10/4, said she was issued a revised pay slip but refused the arrears of promotion.

Rashida Saleemi, an associate professor at the Islamabad Model Postgraduate College for Girls, F-7/4 (Margalla College), added: “After making a number of visits to the AGPR, I was refused the revised pay slip while many of my juniors are getting the revised salaries.”

Similar was the case with Rubina Shaheen, an associate professor at the Islamabad Model Postgraduate College for Girls, F-7/2.
Hamida Metlo, the principal of Islamabad Model College for Girls, I-8/3, was also denied the annual increment of BPS-20.

An official of FDE said under the rules a benefit once granted to a government official can never be withdrawn.

In this situation, the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues officials should follow the notification of TSF which was issued by CAD in the light of the directive of the former prime minister and approved by the finance and the establishment divisions.

Professor Tahir Mahmood, the president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association, said: “It is beyond
understanding why the AGPR is not following the directive of the prime minister dated February 17, 2011, approval of the finance division dated Feb 18, 2013, and concurrence of the establishment division.”

When contacted, Tahir Mehmud, the accountant general of Pakistan revenues, told Dawn that he had been suggested by his officers that without creation of posts benefit of next grade cannot be given to a government officer.

“So letters have been sent to the finance division and the FDE to create posts and after that the teachers will get the benefits of promotion,” he said.